Iconic labor leader Cesar Chavez accused of decades of sexual abuse as annual celebrations are canceled nationwide

By Emma Tucker, Norma Galeana, Andy Rose, CNN

(CNN) — Latino leaders and elected officials say they are shocked by “deeply troubling” sexual misconduct allegations against Cesar Chavez, one of the Latino community’s most prominent civil rights icons, as planned annual celebrations of the late labor leader are being canceled.

The cancellations came just hours before The New York Times published an investigative story Wednesday that includes allegations Chavez abused and molested multiple women over the course of decades — some of them minors — including longtime activist Dolores Huerta, a legend of the farm workers movement in her own right.

The United Farm Workers, co-founded by Chavez and Huerta, is among several groups now saying it will not participate in annual celebratory events this month.

The newspaper reported it interviewed more than 60 people regarding the allegations against Chavez, using union records, emails and other documents to corroborate aspects of the accounts.

CNN has not independently verified the allegations. United Farm Workers declined to provide any additional information beyond its issued statement when contacted by CNN.

“Unfortunately, he used some of his great leadership to abuse women and children — it’s really awful,” Huerta, who turns 96 next month, told the Times, saying she was raped by Chavez in 1966.

In a statement released after the newspaper story was published, Huerta said she had sexual encounters with Chavez twice — once against her will and once when she said she was “manipulated and pressured” — both resulting in pregnancies.

“I carried this secret for as long as I did because building the movement and securing farmworker rights was my life’s work,” Huerta wrote. “The formation of a union was the only vehicle to accomplish and secure those rights and I wasn’t going to let Cesar or anyone else get in the way.”

CNN has reached out to Huerta for comment.

The Cesar Chavez Foundation said the allegations related to “inappropriate sexual behavior with women and minors during his time as president of the United Farm Workers of America.”

The UFW Foundation, a nonprofit associated with the United Farm Workers, said it is canceling “all Cesar Chavez Day activities this month.”

“The UFW has learned of deeply troubling allegations that one of the union’s co-founders, Cesar Chavez, behaved in ways that are incompatible with our organization’s values. Some of the reports are family issues, and not our story to tell or our place to comment on. Far more troubling are allegations involving abuse of young women or minors,” the UFW said in a statement.

The events were scheduled for Cesar Chavez Day, which commemorates the late labor leader and is observed on March 31, his birthday. But the farmworkers’ union said it won’t take part after determining Chavez may have “behaved in ways that are incompatible with our organization’s values.”

“We have not received any direct reports, and we do not have any firsthand knowledge of these allegations,” the UFW said in the statement.

Chavez’s family said in a statement to the Times they were “not in a position to judge” the newly revealed allegations against him.

“As a family steeped in the values of equity and justice, we honor the voices of those who feel unheard and who report sexual misconduct,” the family told the Times. “These allegations are deeply painful to our family.”

The Cesar Chavez Foundation said it’s “deeply shocked and saddened” by the “disturbing allegations” that came to light. The foundation is “working with leaders in the Farmworker Movement to be responsive to these allegations” and support people who may have been harmed, it said.

The union and the Cesar Chavez Foundation said they are setting up a confidential channel for those who want to share any harmful experiences, as well as a process to implement accountability measures.

Instead of participating in this year’s events, the United Farm Workers is calling on its allies and supporters to take part in “Immigration justice events and acts of service to support farmworkers,” it said.

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs said the state would not recognize the commemorative holiday, according to CNN affiliate KTVK. CNN has reached out to the governor’s office.

Events have also been canceled in Houston, San Antonio, and Corpus Christi, Texas, CNN affiliate KTVT reported. The city of Lansing, Michigan, said it had also canceled an upcoming dinner in his honor.

Additional celebrations in California and other states have reportedly been called off as well.

Born near Yuma, Arizona, in 1927, the Mexican-American labor leader was raised working on California farms, where “he was exposed to the hardships and injustices of farm worker life,” according to the foundation.

Along with Huerta and Larry Itliong, he co-founded the National Farm Workers Association in 1962 before it later became the United Farm Workers of America — an organization devoted to defending the rights of farmhands and field workers across the country.

Chavez rose to national prominence as a champion of fair wages, humane treatment and safer working conditions, leading nonviolent marches, boycotts and hunger strikes on behalf of California’s farm workers.

He went on his first hunger strike, which lasted 25 days, in 1968 to protest violence and inhumane conditions workers endured, according to the Cesar Chavez Foundation.

At the same time, Chavez was controversial within his own organization for carrying out leadership purges at the United Farm Workers, according to a biography by journalist Miriam Pawel, as well as for his staunch opposition to undocumented immigrants, who he said threatened union farm labor.

Since his death in 1993, Chavez has been honored and memorialized across the country, including with dozens of schools named after him.

California established a state holiday in his honor in 1995. In 2014, then-President Barack Obama decreed March 31 as Cesar Chavez Day and honored him with a national monument in Keene, California, where Chavez was buried and some of his family still reside.

On his first day as president, Joe Biden placed a bust of Chavez on the credenza behind his Oval Office desk.

Juan Jose Gutierrez, executive director of the Full Rights for Immigrant Coalition, who collaborated with Chavez in providing legal help for agricultural workers, said he felt “utter disappointment” over the announcement.

“It’s a bitter pill to swallow because I mean, Cesar Chavez is an icon,” he told CNN. “Children, even now, know about Cesar Chavez and many generations before him were inspired by him … He’s revered and admired in the community.”

As someone who knew him and worked with him, Gutierrez said the news is shocking. “I still can’t recover,” he said, while acknowledging the extent of the allegations is still unclear.

Chavez has been a “beloved hero of our community” whom Gutierrez admired, he said. But if the serious allegations were proven credible, it would be a “blow to his legacy,” no matter how much time has passed since his death.

“It is ok to feel angry, shocked, heartbroken, saddened, confused, and dismayed — all at the same time,” US Rep. Adelita Grijalva, a Democrat from Arizona, said in a statement Tuesday night. “We still have more questions than answers. However, it is important to remember that one person does not define a movement. We, the people, are the movement.”

This story has been updated with additional information.

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CNN’s Alex Stambaugh contributed to this report.